Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, ethnic tension has been a major factor in the development of the political situation in the Balkan Region. The break up of communist Yugoslavia lead to wide spread confict in the 1990-ies and has lead to the formation of new countries.

The graphic maps out the areas that are at risk, or already contaminated from nuclear industry after the break-up of the former Soviet Union. Nuclear power has unresolved problems of waste disposal. Waste remains dangerous for thousands of human generations and can be converted to plutonium, a component of nuclear weapons. The mining of nuclear fuel, containing U-235 and U-238, can pollute groundwater with both heavy metals and traces of radioact...

The map shows the administrative regions (oblasts), territories, national districts and republics of Russia. Russia has a total population of well over 143 million people. It has wide natural resources, including major deposits of oil, natural gas, coal, strategic minerals, and timber.It also faces formidable obstacles of climate, terrain, and distance hinder exploitation of natural resources. Major envionmental issues are air pollution from heav...

Central and Eastern Europe is varied in the levels of development indicators such as, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Human Development Index (HDI), life expectancy and education. Some of the Balkan states do not have the appropriate information gathered to be included but the ones that do show the area is lagging behind.

The wars in former Yugoslavia sped up the process of ethnic homogenization in the west Balkans since modern states started to take form in the 19th century. In Croatia, for instance, the proportion of Serbs in the overall population has dropped from 12 per cent to just 4 per cent in 10 years.

The graphic shows the world coal consumption from various regions in comparison to the world totals. It shows trends from 1990 to 1999 and predicts the patterns to 2020. The predictions to 2020 show a decrease in coal consumption in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Ùion. However, it shows a considerable increase in the North America and developing countries, causing the total global consumption to increase.

Graph showing the amount (in millions of metric tonnes) of CO2 emissions from coal, gas and oil. Covers the years from 1990-2000 and predicts the trend to 2020. Information on the United States, Western Europe, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union and Africa is included.

Consumption of non-renewable resources ahve been increasing in most of the world except Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. This graphic shows the world oil, natural gas and coal consumption from various regions in comparison to the world totals. Shows trends from 1990 and predicts the patterns to 2020.

Russian Federation is located in Northern Asia (that part west of the Urals is included with Europe), bordering the Arctic Ocean, between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean, comprising of 17,075,200 sq km. It has a population of 143,420,309 (2005). Major environmental concerns are: air pollution from heavy industry, emissions of coal-fired electric plants, and transportation in major cities; industrial, municipal, and agricultural pollution of in...

South Ossetia - environmental headlines (topographic and political map. The basemap is complemented with textual information on 'environmental headlines'which are the preliminary results of a desk assessment conducted by GRID-Arendal under the ENVSEC initiative (UNEP; OSCE; NATO; UNDP; UNECE; REC)

Albania is located in Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea and Ionian Sea, between Greece and Serbia and Montenegro comprising of 28,748 sq km. It has an estimated population of 3,563,112 (2005). Major environmental concerns are deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution from industrial and domestic effluents.

Albania is located in Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea and Ionian Sea, between Greece and Serbia and Montenegro comprising of 28,748 sq km. It has an estimated population of 3,563,112 (2005). Major environmental concerns are deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution from industrial and domestic effluents.

Lithuania is located in Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Latvia and Russia, comprising of 65,200 sq km. It has a population of 3,596,617 (2005). Major environmental concerns are: contamination of soil and groundwater with petroleum products and chemicals at military bases.

Bulgaria, a country in Eastern Europe, is inhabited by 7.5 million people. The capital is Sofia. Current environmental issues are, according to the CIA factbook: air pollution from industrial emissions; rivers polluted from raw sewage, heavy metals, detergents; deforestation; forest damage from air pollution and resulting acid rain; soil contamination from heavy metals from metallurgical plants and industrial wastes.

Abkhazia - environmental headlines (topographic and political map). The basemap is complemented with textual information on 'environmental headlines' which are the preliminary results of a desk assessment conducted by GRID-Arendal under the ENVSEC initiative (UNEP; OSCE; NATO; UNDP; UNECE; REC)

Latvia is located in Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Estonia and Lithuania, comprising of 64,589 sq km. It has a population of 2,290,237 (2005). Major environmental concerns are: Latvia's environment has benefited from a shift to service industries after the country regained independence; the main environmental priorities are improvement of drinking water quality and sewage system, household, and hazardous waste management, as w...

Belarus is located in Eastern Europe, east of Poland, comprising of 207,600 sq km. It has a population of 10,300,483 (2005). Major environmental concerns are: soil pollution from pesticide use; southern part of the country contaminated with fallout from 1986 nuclear reactor accident at Chernobyl in northern Ukraine.

The information on the state of biodiversity from 22 Central and Eastern European and former Soviet countries was assembled on the occasion of the 5th Conference of Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nairobi May 15-26, 2000. It is a collaborative effort of the ENRIN national focal points of UNEP-GRID. This graphic shows protected areas in IUCN categories (I-V).

The information on the state of biodiversity from 22 Central and Eastern European and former Soviet countries was assembled on the occasion of the 5th Conference of Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nairobi May 15-26, 2000. It is a collaborative effort of the ENRIN national focal points of UNEP-GRID. This Graphic shows land use in Eastern European countries, specifically arable land and permanent cropland.

The information on the state of biodiversity from 22 Central and Eastern European and former Soviet countries was assembled on the occasion of the 5th Conference of Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nairobi May 15-26, 2000. It is a collaborative effort of the ENRIN national focal points of UNEP-GRID. This graphic shows threatened species in Eastern Europe, specifically breeding birds.